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Spi lyay Tym
February 23, 2011
oyote News , est. 1976
P.0. Box 870
\ a /~— Springs, OR 97761
T299 blniversity^o^Oregon
Eugene OR 9 7 4 0 3 -1 2 0 5
Vol. 36, No. 04
February - A ’A ’mi-Ushátch
-
Spilyay Tymoo
Tribal leaders said they are hoping
to have the temporary highway 26 ca
sino operational by as early as Christ
mas or at least by Spring 2012, as a
“financial shot in the arm” to provide
a needed surge in short-term revenues.
Kah-Nee-Ta’s expansion into the
community of Warm Springs would
have several benefits, said Deepak
Sehgal, chairman for the Kah-Nee-Ta
board of directors, which recom
mended the move.
“Right now the casino is making a
limited amount of revenue which is not
adequate to cover all of the various
needs of the Tribes. With the revenue
being divided up for tribal dividends
and expenses for Cascade Locks, Kah-
Nee-Ta is left with a large number of
renovation projects going unfunded.”
“If we move the casino to the com
munity of Warm Springs, it’s projected
that we could net about three to four
times more than we are now making at
Kah-Nee-Ta per year.”
Once operational, the Cascade
Locks casino would generate profits of
more than $140 million annually.
As it stands, the casino at Kah-Nee-
Ta draws 60 percent of its business
from tribal members. Thirty-eight per
cent of all customers drive more than
one hour to the casino. And presently
two percent of casino profits come
from visitors out of Portland.
In comparison, the temporary casino
Courtesy of the Kah-Nee-Ta board.
Conceptual drawing of the temporary casino by the Plaza.
would attract 25 percent of its busi
ness from tribal members, 75 percent
from visitors who drive within one hour
of Warm Springs, and 3 percent from
Portland residents.
The latest counts show that peak
traffic counts on highway 26 are as high
as 6,500 vehicles per day. “We could
easily pull in many of these visitors,
especially during the weekend,” said
Sehgal.
The area being considered for the
temporary casino is west of the plaza,
which is tribally owned land. An area
east of the plaza (99 percent tribally
owned) may serve as additional park
ing for a structure about double the size
as the casino at Kah-Nee-Ta.
“Several concepts for the temporary
casino have been presented to Tribal
Council for consideration”, Sehgal said.
“However, at this time a decision has
not been finalized on the look and feel
of the structure.”
Plans do, however, call for a solid
structure, not a tent, which would cost
anywhere from $10 to $12 million to
build. The Kah-Nee-Ta board said that
they would like to use local engineers
and architects.
Location
The land next to the Plaza was cho
sen for a number of different reasons.
First, it is located right on highway 26,
which has the highest traffic counts on
the reservation. Then, water and sewer
are present. There’s an electric power
station right next door. “All of these
reasons makes this the best site to place
a temporary casino in the shortest
amount of time,” Sehgal said.
The temporary casino could be home
to as many as 600 slot machines and
would provide 200 additional jobs on
the reservation. Currently, the casino
50 cents
BIA to
take down
some older
structures
I
at Kah-Nee-Ta has 300 slots ma
chines and provides 75 to 100 jobs.
Unemployment on the reserva
tion has been estimated to be as high
as 75 percent, and these new jobs
close to the community should help
the economy, Sehgal said.
“We’re hoping to stimulate private
businesses in the area as well,”
Sehgal said. “This temporary casino
will provide funding for Cascade
Locks, provide money back the
tribes, provide funding for renova
tions at Kah-Nee-Ta, and would
serve as a permanent building for
future tribal needs.”
The work ahead includes inform
ing the tribal members, completing
the environmental and cultural clear
ances, and having the attorneys ne
gotiate minor changes to the com
pact, and developing the engineer
ing and design of the building so thaj
construction could begin.
The temporary casino would not
stand alone, Sehgal said. “It’ll be
joined at the hip with Kah-Nee-Ta.
It’ll have its staffing, but will still work
on joint marketing with the resort
in order to get the best of both op
erations.”
For example, shuttles would trans
port resort guests to the temporary
casino. And casino guests who would
like to see special concerts and par
take in events would be shuttled to
Kah-Nee-Ta. The temporary casino
would operate until the permanent
Cascade Locks casino opens.
Tribal Council last week authorized
the removal of several old BIA-owned
buildings on the reservation.
In consulting with the chief opera
tions officer and director of tribal Utili
ties, Council determined that buildings
cannot be renovated.
The structures have problems such
as asbestos and lead paint, and old wir
ing and plumbing. Council had the op
tion of accepting title to the buildings
from the BIA, but rejected the offer.
Removal of the buildings, by the
BIA at the agency’s expense, will pro
vide space for new building develop
ment, in accordance with the downtown
development plan, said Chief Opera
tions Officer Urbana Ross.
The BIA will conduct tests on other
buildings that the agency owns, to de
termine if they are worth keeping.
The tribes will then have the option
of taking title to these other buildings,
if Council finds them worth owning.
The buildings that are to be removed
are mostly around the campus area.
There are no residents living in the
structures.
Please see CASINO PLAN on page 9
Please see OLD BU ILD IN G S on 9
B y D ave M cM echan
Spilyay Tymoo
Lincoln's
Powwow
Fluhr is making
most of fire career
The Simnasho Community
hosted the Thirty-Fourth A nnual
Unco In’s Birthday Powwow, Feb.
B y Duran B o b b
Spilyay Tymoo
Lynn Fluhr is a tribal member, wife,
the fire chief of Grass Valley, the fire
chief of Sherman County, a full-time
fire medic in Warm Springs, and a
mother of three. She is the daughter
of Herb Graybael and Earlynne
Squiemphen, the grand-daughter of
Earl and Rita.
One night recently, Lynn went
through a fire rescue magazine with her
middle son, Aaron, 4. She taught him
the words hot, bad, fires, ouchies. And
about a week later, something fright
ening happened.
“My husband accidentally dropped
a pot holder on the stove burner,” Lynn
recalls. “Then he turned his back to
mix dinner on the kitchen island, so he
didn’t see the flames that sprang up.”
What happened could have been a
different, terrible story. The stove sits
in one corner of the kitchen, and it
would have been easy for the flames
to get out of control.
“But Aaron remembered,” Lynn said.
He used what he learned, pointing to
the stove and saying hot, hot, hot, bad,
hot.”
Watch little Aaron Fluhr. He may
take after his mother.
Lynn and her family are the only
Indians that live in Sherman County.
She is married to Glenn Fluhr. The
two met when she worked with Fire
and Safety and he was a tribal police
officer. Later, they married and moved.
She became the Grass Valley fire chief
in 2002, at the age of 22. Last May,
she was elected Sherman County Fire
Chief. She graduated from high school
in Madras in 1996, and participated in
online college courses.
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
W inter-Anm
Discussion begins over temporary casino
B y Duran B obb
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
Dept./Senals
Kniaht Library
Acquisition
11 - 13 .
From Warm Springs some of the
notable contest winners were Mileena
Edwards (third in Teen Girls
Traditional); Tilda Walsey (third in
Eadies Traditional); and A rlita
PJooan (third, Golden Age Women).
For the fu ll results o f the
Unco In’s Birthday Powwow, please
see page 8.
Fire Chief Lynn Fluhr
Yvonne Iverson photographs.
At one point in her life, she dreamed
of becoming a mechanic. Then one
summer when she was 15, she enrolled
in the cadet program with Warm
Springs Fire and Safety. “I was
hooked,” she said. “I was raised to al
ways help people.”
Connie Carlin of the National Na
tive American Fire Chiefs Association
said Lynn may be the only female Na
tive American in the nation serving as
fire chief off-rez.
On top of serving as Sherman
County Fire Chief, Lynn also serves as
full-time fire medic in Warm Springs.
Three days a week the .commute for
Lynn, she estimates, is about 100 miles
one-way.
But all of her duties never cut into
family time. “They love fire stuff as
much as I do,” Lynn said. “My oldest
son just got voted president of the ca
det program at South Sherman Fire and
Rescue. This is a big achievement, since
he is the youngest out of the group.
But he was raised in the fire depart
ment.”
See FLUHR on page 9
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